Thylacoleo
Thylacoleo ("pouch lion") is an extinct genus of carnivorous marsupials that lived in Australia from the late Pliocene to the Late Pleistocene (until around 40,000 years ago), often known as marsupial lions. They were the largest and last members of the family Thylacoleonidae, occupying the position of apex predator within Australian ecosystems. The largest and last species, Thylacoleo carnifex approached the weight of a lioness. The estimated average weight for the species ranges from 101 to 130 kg (223 to 287 lb).
| Thylacoleo Temporal range: late Pliocene—late Pleistocene | |
|---|---|
| Skeletal diagram of T. carnifex (top) and restored musculature based on living marsupials (bottom) | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Infraclass: | Marsupialia |
| Order: | Diprotodontia |
| Family: | †Thylacoleonidae |
| Genus: | †Thylacoleo Owen, 1859 |
| Type species | |
| †Thylacoleo carnifex | |
| Species | |
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